Klarinet Archive - Posting 000077.txt from 1998/07

From: <SDSCHWAEG@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Mozart and the V word
Date: Sun, 5 Jul 1998 11:43:05 -0400

In a message dated 7/5/98 7:51:54 AM Central Daylight Time,
makolos@-----.ca writes:

<< Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu wrote:

> There is a great deal wrong with playing a piece in a manner
> inconsistent with the way it was performed at the original concerts.
> In fact, if you execute in this fashion, you do not understand what you
> are doing.
>

I heartily disagree with you here. You are stating that there is one,
and
only one correct way to perform a piece. Considering all the possibilities -
simply the fact that there are many different recordings of the same piece
AND
that the public accepts and purchases them - this statement is in the realms
of
saying that "we are the only intelligent beings in the universe."
>>

I don't think Dan is saying there is only one correct way to perform a
piece. Surely in the composer's own day there were varying interpretations,
depending on the performer. These all, however, would have been consistent
with the style and performance practice of the day.
I think one has to be extremely careful when taking music out of its own
historical or cultural context. When performing ethnic music, for instance, I
think it is important to know how that music functions in its original
culture; to perform it in another way may be extremely disrespectful. One can
regard an historical period in a similar way.

>>But
the listener won't understand it the same way, because times have changed. We
now
have electricity. Enclosed concert halls with large capacities, modern
instruments, modern air conditions, different physical size, and so on. So
how, I
ask, can two civilizations so different in all these aspects be expected to
"hear"
the same thing when it is played?
>>

As far as the listener is concerned, I believe that an audience really
has as much responsibility as a performer to know about style periods,
performance practices, etc. One can always listen to music purely for
enjoyment, and understand it in the context of one's own experience, but the
listening experience will be much richer if you've done some homework and try
to listen with the ears of the audience for whom the music was composed, at
least as far as it is possible to do that.

Susan Schwaegler

---------------------------------------------------------------------
For additional commands, e-mail: klarinet-help@-----.org
For other problems, e-mail: klarinet-owner@-----.org